Patent application title: SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ELECTRONIC PAYMENT USING SEPARATED TIMING AND INTERFACE

Abstract:

An electronic payment system includes a receiver for receiving order
information which includes order numbers and the settlement accounts for
the product and the service ordered by a first client or a second client
from an affiliated store system. A first transmitter is provided for
transmitting settlement request information which includes settlement
accounts for the ordered product and service to a second client making
payment on behalf of a first client. A settlement processor is provided
for settlement processing of the settlement accounts through a settlement
unit selected by the second client by interworking with the second
client. A second transmitter is provided for transmitting settlement
processing results to the second client and the affiliated store system.

Claims:

1. An electronic settlement system for conducting account settlement of
products and services, by interworking with an online/offline affiliated
store system that provides the products and the services; a first client
that inquires about product information which is information on the
products and the services supplied by the affiliated store system; and a
second client that receives the product information from the affiliated
store system to select and order a product and a service to be purchased
and that settles accounts of the product and the service to be purchased,
comprising:a receiver for receiving order information which includes
order numbers and the settlement accounts for the product and the service
ordered by the second client, from the affiliated store system;a first
transmitter for transmitting settlement request information which
includes settlement accounts for the ordered product and service to the
second client;a settlement processor for settlement processing of the
settlement accounts through a settlement unit selected by the second
client by interworking with the second client; anda second transmitter
for transmitting settlement processing results to the second client and
the affiliated store system.

2. An electronic settlement system for conducting account settlement of
products and services, by interworking with an online/offline affiliated
store system that provides the products and the services; a first client
group that inquires about product information which is information on the
products and the services provided by the affiliated store system and
that selects and orders a product and a service to be purchased; and a
second client that receives settlement request information which includes
settlement accounts for the ordered product and service and that
processes the settlement accounts, comprising:a receiver for receiving
order information which includes order numbers and settlement accounts
for the product and the service ordered by the first client group, from
the affiliated store system;a first transmitter for transmitting the
settlement request information to the second client;a settlement
processor for settlement processing of the settlement accounts through a
settlement unit selected by the second client by interworking with the
second client; anda second transmitter for transmitting settlement
processing results to the second client and the affiliated store system.

3. The electronic settlement system of claim 2, wherein the first client
group, comprising:a third client that inquires about the product
information which is information on the product and the service supplied
by the affiliated store system; anda fourth client that receives the
product information from the affiliated store system to select and order
a product and a service to be purchased.

4. The electronic settlement system of one of claim 2, wherein the
settlement unit is one of credit card settlement, transferring
settlement, electronic cash, a prepaid card, e-mail based payment (ex,
PayPal), cellular phone number based payment, and micro portable phone
payment.

5. The electronic settlement system of one of claim 2, wherein the order
information further contains first access information which is an
intrinsic value assigned to the second client to access the second
client, and the settlement request information further contains second
access information for making the second client access the electronic
settlement system, then the first transmitter transmits the settlement
request information to the second client by using the first access
information.

6. The electronic settlement system of claim 5, wherein the first access
information is one of a portable phone number, an apparatus number, a
chip serial number, an ID assigned to identify the second client from the
affiliated store system, an e-mail address, and a messenger ID.

7. In an e-commerce system which includes an online/offline affiliated
store system that provides products and services; a first client that
inquires about product information which is information on the products
and services supplied by the affiliated store system; a second client
that receives the product information from the affiliated store system to
select and order a product and a service to be purchased and that settles
accounts of the product and the service to be purchased; and an
electronic settlement system for conducting account settlement of the
products and the services by interworking with the affiliated store
system and the second client, an electronic settlement method in
accordance with the present invention comprises the steps of: a product
information inquiry step of the first client inquiring about the product
information from the affiliated store system; a product information
transmission step of transmitting the product information that the
affiliated store system inquires about to the second client; an order
step of the second client ordering a product and a service; and a
settlement step of the electronic settlement system conducting account
settlement by interworking with the second client; and wherein the
settlement step, comprising the steps of:a first step of receiving order
information which includes order numbers and settlement accounts of a
product and a service ordered by the second client, from the affiliated
store system;a second step of transmitting settlement request information
which includes settlement accounts for the ordered product and service to
the second client;a third step of conducting settlement processing of the
settlement accounts through a settlement unit selected by the second
client by interworking with the second client; anda fourth step of
transmitting settlement processing results to the second client and the
affiliated store system.

8. In an e-commerce system which includes an online/offline affiliated
store system that provides products and services; a first client group
that inquires about product information which is information on the
products and the services supplied by the affiliated store system and
that selects and orders a product and a service to be purchased; a second
client that receives settlement request information which includes
settlement accounts of the ordered product and service and that processes
the settlement accounts; and an electronic settlement system that
conducts processing of the settlement accounts by interworking with the
affiliated store system and the second client, an electronic settlement
method comprises the steps of:a product information inquiry step of the
first client group inquiring about the product information from the
affiliated store system;an order step of the first client group ordering
the product and the service; anda settlement step of the electronic
settlement system conducting account settlement by interworking with the
second client; and wherein the settlement step, comprising the steps of:a
first step of receiving order information which includes an order number
and settlement accounts of the product and the service ordered by the
first client, from the affiliated store system;a second step of
transmitting the settlement request information to the second client;a
third step of conducting settlement processing of the settlement accounts
through a settlement unit selected by the second client by interworking
with the second client; anda fourth step of transmitting settlement
processing results to the second client and the affiliated store system.

9. The electronic settlement method of claim 8, wherein the first client
group, comprising:a third client that inquires about product information
which is information on the products and the services supplied by the
affiliated store system; anda fourth client that receives the product
information from the affiliated store system to select and order a
product and a service to be purchased.

10. The electronic settlement method of one of claim 7, wherein the order
information received in the first step further contains first access
information which is an intrinsic value assigned to the second client to
access the second client, and the settlement request information
transmitted in the second step further contains second access information
for accessing the electronic settlement system.

11. The electronic settlement method of claim 10, wherein the first access
information is one of a portable phone number, an apparatus number, a
chip serial number, an ID assigned to identify the second client from the
affiliated store system, an e-mail address, and a messenger ID.

12. The electronic settlement method of one of claim 7, wherein the third
step, comprising the steps of:a 3-1 step of starting a new session for
the second client which is connected through communication;a 3-2 step of
conducting settlement processing of the settlement accounts with a
settlement unit selected by the second client; anda 3-3 step of
terminating the session for the second client.

13. The electronic settlement method of claim 12, wherein after the 3-1
step, the third step further comprises the steps of:a 3-4 step of
transmitting validity confirm request data that demands to confirm
whether the order information is currently valid by including the order
number, to the affiliated store system; anda 3-5 step of receiving
validity confirm results of the order information from the affiliated
store system.

14. The electronic settlement method of claim 12, wherein after the 3-1
step, the third step further comprises the steps of:a 3-6 step of the
affiliated store system accessing an order information table of a
shopping mall database where the order information is stored; anda 3-7
step of confirming validity of the order information by loading a valid
flag value indicating whether each piece of the order information is
currently valid, from the order information table by setting the order
information to keys.

15. The electronic settlement system of claim 5, wherein when information
is transmitted to the second client by using SMS, e-mail, and messenger
methods from the first transmitter after the first client conducts the
inquiry or the inquiry and the order, the second client can progress a
next step by accessing the settlement system through a direct accessing
method for information transmission.

16. The electronic settlement system of claim 5, wherein when information
is transmitted to the second client by using SMS, e-mail, and messenger
methods from the first transmitter after the first client conducts the
inquiry or the inquiry and the order, if a menu related to the present
operation is accessed to the second client or an embedded module is
provided, the second client activates the menu or the module to carry out
the operation by accessing the corresponding settlement system.

17. The electronic settlement system of claim 5, wherein when information
is transmitted to the second client by using SMS, e-mail, and messenger
methods from the first transmitter after the first client conducts the
inquiry or the inquiry and the order, the second client performs the
operation by directly accessing an equivalent site such as the Internet.

18. The electronic settlement system of claim 5, wherein the second client
can directly receive the information through another apparatus and
information media (bar code, RFID, etc.), and at this time, information
delivery may be executed through the Internet or be directly executed
without passing through the Internet, then the order or the settlement is
carried out by receiving the information, and in this case, it has the
same process that the electronic settlement system delivers the results
through the second transmitter after the second client performs the
operation.

19. The electronic settlement system of claim 5, wherein when the first
client inquires about product information or inquires about the
information and orders a product through another apparatus and
information media (bar code, RFID, etc.) and transmits the information to
the second client through the first transmitter, information delivery may
be executed through the Internet or be directly executed without passing
through the Internet, then the second client conducts the order or the
settlement by receiving the information, and in this case, it has the
same process that the electronic settlement system delivers the results
through the second transmitter after the second client performs the
operation.

Description:

FIELD

[0001]The present invention relates to an electronic payment system where
one individual makes payment on behalf of another.

BACKGROUND

[0002]The present invention generally relates to an electronic settlement
system and a method thereof, and more specifically, to an electronic
settlement system and a method thereof capable of processing product
information inquiry, order, and settlement through dualization, by
performing a process of inquiring about and ordering information of a
product to be purchased and a process of settling accounts of an ordered
product among E-commerce processes, for at least separate time or in
separate spaces.

[0003]In the past, a method of paying for and settling accounts of a
product was used while a purchaser and a seller directly confronted each
other during product transactions. However, as communication technology
such as the Internet and terminal technology have been developed, various
E-commerce services for paying for and settling accounts of products as
inquiring about and ordering product information have been provided with
no need for purchasers to confront sellers. Specially, in case of such an
E-commerce service, a purchaser can use the service even without directly
visiting a store or an office of a seller or without using a determined
terminal (ATM in case of banking) in any place where the purchaser can
connect to a network such as the Internet, thus there are no restrictions
on space. Furthermore, as an automatic electronic coping system is
introduced, the service can be used without the temporal limit. As a
result, the E-commerce service has been developed and spread at high
speed thanks to the economical advantages of store procurement and
reduction in distribution cost. In addition, along with development of
security aspects and speed of wireless Internet technology as well as
mobile communication terminal technology including portable phones, a
method of providing such a prior E-commerce service by interworking the
E-commerce service with mobile communication terminals has been suggested
and is currently developing fast.

[0004]The prior E-commerce service consists of inquiry, order, and
settlement processes of product information. First, if a purchaser uses
contents provided by an affiliated store system or inquires about and
selects information on a marketing product to order the product while he
or she is connected with the affiliated store system (seller) through a
network, a process for settling accounts of the product is mainly carried
out on a screen of the same apparatus in a continuous way. The settlement
process is executed by a PG (Payment Gateway) interworking with the
affiliated store system or a system which conducts a similar task, and
more specifically, it is performed by an electronic wallet module of the
system which conducts the similar task or the PG (Payment Gateway)
installed in an APP or ActiveX type within a web server of the affiliated
store system. If the purchaser inquires about product information and
orders a product, the PG interworking with the affiliated store system or
the system that performs the similar task, and the electronic wallet
module are driven to directly connect the purchaser with the PG or the
system that performs the similar task, then settlement is conducted after
the purchaser is authenticated by using an electronic certificate or
another authentication unit. If the purchaser inputs a lot of
settlement-related information such as credit card, bank account, and
prepaid card data, the PG or the system that performs the similar task
receives settlement information, and transmits or demands settlement
authentication-related settlement information for the corresponding
settlement to an equivalent financial institution such as a bank or a
credit card company capable of being linked, then receives approval to
send settlement results to a customer as approving the settlement for the
affiliated store system.

[0005]At least order and settlement processes among product information
inquiry, order, and settlement processes of the above E-commerce service
are continuously handled, and the processes are characteristic from a
point of view that a subject for handling the product information
inquiry, order, and settlement processes becomes the purchaser. Even
though the affiliated store system provides a service of temporarily
storing product information selected by the purchaser through a storage
process such as a market basket, it just executes an operation of
temporarily keeping the information for a procedure of continuously
progressing product information inquiry, order, and settlement.

[0006]Therefore, in the prior E-commerce service, at least order and
settlement processes are not fully separated from each other in terms of
space and time and should be continuously performed, thus the prior
service is hampered by restrictions that the purchaser has to directly
handle most of product information inquiry, order, and settlement. So, it
is impossible to lead various transformations of the service, which the
purchaser can only pay for a product after entrusting product information
inquiry and order to a third party or the purchaser can only pay for the
product by using another apparatus of the purchaser later after the
purchaser himself or herself inquires about product information and
orders the product. In a concrete way, services capable of purchasing
products or services for modern people who are busy are being recently
popularized. However, in order for a third party (proxy) to purchase or
pay for a product, the purchaser should offer settlement information such
as a credit card number to the third party (proxy) owing to restrictions
on the E-commerce service where the order and settlement processes are
continuously performed as mentioned above. And, this produces a serious
security problem. Also, when order and settlement processes cannot help
being separated from each other by time and space like a product is paid
at home after the purchaser inquires about product information and orders
the product in an office or like a product ordered by a family member is
paid through another apparatus at separate time or in separate space, the
settlement process itself cannot be conducted apart from the order
process. Consequently, it causes the user's inconvenience of conducting
the order process again.

SUMMARY

[0007]According there is provided An electronic payment system for
conducting account settlement of products and services, by interworking
with an online/offline affiliated store system that provides the products
and the services. The system is used with a first client that inquires
about product information which is information on the products and the
services supplied by the affiliated store system and a second client that
receives the product information from the affiliated store system to
select and order a product and a service to be purchased and that settles
accounts of the product and the service to be purchased. The electronic
payment system includes a receiver for receiving order information which
includes order numbers and the settlement accounts for the product and
the service ordered by either the first client or the second client, from
the affiliated store system. A first transmitter is provided for
transmitting settlement request information which includes settlement
accounts for the ordered product and service to the second client. A
settlement processor is provided for settlement processing of the
settlement accounts through a settlement unit selected by the second
client by interworking with the second client. A second transmitter is
provided for transmitting settlement processing results to the second
client and the affiliated store system.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008]These and other features of the invention will become more apparent
from the following description in which reference is made to the appended
drawings, the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are
not intended to in any way limit the scope of the invention to the
particular embodiment or embodiments shown, wherein:

[0009]FIG. 1 is a format diagram of a first embodiment of an E-commerce
system applied with an electronic settlement system in accordance with
the present invention;

[0010]FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a shopping mall
database in accordance with the present invention;

[0011]FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a settlement
database in accordance with the present invention;

[0012]FIG. 4 is a format diagram of a second embodiment of an E-commerce
system applied with an electronic settlement system in accordance with
the present invention;

[0013]FIG. 5 is a format diagram of a third embodiment of an E-commerce
system applied with an electronic settlement system in accordance with
the present invention;

[0014]FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a first embodiment of an E-commerce
process applied with an electronic settlement method in accordance with
the present invention;

[0015]FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a second embodiment of an E-commerce
process applied with an electronic settlement method in accordance with
the present invention; and

[0016]FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a third embodiment of an E-commerce
process applied with an electronic settlement method in accordance with
the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017]The preferred embodiment, an electronic payment system will now be
described with reference to FIG. 1 through 8.

[0018]Electronic payment system in accordance with the present invention
conducts account settlement of products and services by interworking with
an online/offline affiliated store system that provides products and
services, a first client that inquires about product information which is
information on the products and services supplied by the affiliated store
system, and a second client that receives the product information from
the affiliated store system to select and order a product and a service
to be purchased and that settles accounts of the product and the service
to be purchased, comprising: a receiver for receiving order information
which includes order numbers and settlement accounts for the product and
the service ordered by the second client, from the affiliated store
system; a first transmitter for transmitting settlement request
information which includes the settlement accounts for the ordered
product and service to the second client; a settlement processor for
settlement processing of the settlement accounts through a settlement
unit selected by the second client by interworking with the second
client; and a second transmitter for transmitting settlement processing
results to the second client and the affiliated store system

[0019]In another embodiment of an electronic settlement system in
accordance with the present invention, the electronic settlement system
settles accounts of products and services by interworking with an
online/offline affiliated store system that provides products and
services, a first client group that inquires about product information
which is information on the products and the services provided by the
affiliated store system and that selects and orders a product and a
service to be purchased, and a second client that receives settlement
request information which includes settlement accounts for the ordered
product and service and that processes the settlement accounts,
comprising: a receiver for receiving order information which includes
order numbers and settlement accounts for the product and the service
ordered by the first client group, from the affiliated store system; a
first transmitter for transmitting the settlement request information to
the second client; a settlement processor for settlement processing of
the settlement accounts through a settlement unit selected by the second
client by interworking with the second client; and a second transmitter
for transmitting settlement processing results to the second client and
the affiliated store system.

[0020]Desirably, the first client group comprises a third client that
inquires about the product information which is information on the
product and the service supplied by the affiliated store system, and a
fourth client that receives the product information from the affiliated
store system to select and order a product and a service to be purchased.
One of credit card settlement, transferring settlement, electronic cash,
a prepaid card, e-mail based payment (ex, PayPal), cellular phone number
based payment, and micro portable phone payment can be used as the
settlement unit. The order information further contains first access
information which is an intrinsic value assigned to the second client to
access the second client, and the settlement request information further
contains second access information for making the second client access
the electronic settlement system. The first transmitter transmits the
settlement request information to the second client by using the first
access information. One of a portable phone number, an apparatus number,
a chip serial number, an ID assigned to identify the second client from
the affiliated store system, an e-mail address, and a messenger ID can be
used as the first access information.

[0021]In an e-commerce system that includes an online/offline affiliated
store system that provides products and services, a first client that
inquires about product information which is information on the products
and services supplied by the affiliated store system, a second client
that receives the product information from the affiliated store system to
select and order a product and a service to be purchased and that settles
accounts of the product and the service to be purchased, and an
electronic settlement system for conducting account settlement of the
products and the services by interworking with the affiliated store
system and the second client, an electronic settlement method in
accordance with the present invention comprises the steps of: a product
information inquiry step of the first client inquiring about the product
information from the affiliated store system; a product information
transmission step of transmitting the product information that the
affiliated store system inquires about to the second client; an order
step of the second client ordering a product and a service; and a
settlement step of the electronic settlement system conducting account
settlement by interworking with the second client; and wherein the
settlement step comprises the steps of: a first step of receiving order
information which includes order numbers and settlement accounts of a
product and a service ordered by the second client, from the affiliated
store system; a second step of transmitting settlement request
information which includes settlement accounts for the ordered product
and service to the second client; a third step of conducting settlement
processing of the settlement accounts through a settlement unit selected
by the second client by interworking with the second client; and a fourth
step of transmitting settlement processing results to the second client
and the affiliated store system.

[0022]In addition, in an e-commerce system that includes an online/offline
affiliated store system that provides products and services, a first
client group that inquires about product information which is information
on the products and the services supplied by the affiliated store system
and that selects and orders a product and a service to be purchased, a
second client that receives settlement request information which includes
settlement accounts of the ordered product and service and that processes
the settlement accounts, and an electronic settlement system that
conducts processing of the settlement accounts by interworking with the
affiliated store system and the second client, another embodiment of the
electronic settlement method in accordance with the present invention
comprises the steps of: a product information inquiry step of the first
client group inquiring about the product information from the affiliated
store system; an order step of the first client group ordering the
product and the service; and a settlement step of the electronic
settlement system conducting account settlement by interworking with the
second client; and wherein the settlement step comprises the steps of: a
first step of receiving order information which includes an order number
and settlement accounts of the product and the service ordered by the
second client, from the affiliated store system; a second step of
transmitting the settlement request information to the second client; a
third step of conducting settlement processing of the settlement accounts
through a settlement unit selected by the second client by interworking
with the second client; and a fourth step of transmitting settlement
processing results to the second client and the affiliated store system.

[0023]If communication is directly performed in various ways such as
Bluetooth or RF, and NFC without using an Internet online system between
an apparatus and an apparatus or between an apparatus and a bar code, the
user himself or herself carries out inquiry and order under substantial
circumstances between a person and a person, a personal and an apparatus,
and between an information delivery medium (ex, bar code, RFID) and a
person. And, if the user's own apparatus is connected for settlement, the
apparatus receives order information and conducts a settlement process,
thereby functioning as a second client.

[0024]Desirably, the first client group is composed of a third client that
inquires about product information which is information on the products
and the services supplied by the affiliated store system, and a fourth
client that receives the product information from the affiliated store
system to select and order a product and a service to be purchased.
Furthermore, the order information received in the first step further
contains first access information which is an intrinsic value assigned to
the second client to access the second client, and the settlement request
information transmitted in the second step further contains second access
information for accessing the electronic settlement system. One of a
portable phone number, an apparatus number, a chip serial number, an ID
assigned to identify the second client from the affiliated store system,
an e-mail address, and a messenger ID can be used as the first access
information. It is desirable that the third step consists of a 3-1 step
of starting a new session for the second client which is connected
through communication, a 3-2 step of conducting settlement processing of
the settlement accounts with a settlement unit selected by the second
client, and a 3-3 step of terminating the session for the second client.
In this case, after the 3-1 step, it is desirable to further comprise a
3-4 step of transmitting validity confirm request data that demands to
confirm whether the order information is currently valid by including the
order number, to the affiliated store system, and a 3-5 step of receiving
validity confirm results of the order information from the affiliated
store system, or to further comprise a 3-6 step of the affiliated store
system accessing an order information table of a shopping mall database
where the order information is stored, and a 3-7 step of confirming
validity of the order information by loading a valid flag value
indicating whether each piece of the order information is currently
valid, from the order information table by setting the order information
to keys.

[0025]The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter
with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred
embodiments of the invention are shown.

[0026]FIG. 1 is a format diagram of a first embodiment of an e-commerce
system applied with an electronic settlement system in accordance with
the present invention. Also, FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a structure
of a shopping mall database in accordance with the present invention, and
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a settlement database in
accordance with the present invention. Fields which become keys of each
table are marked in bold strokes and underlines in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. By
referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, configurations of the first embodiment of
the e-commerce system in accordance with the present invention will be
described as follows.

[0027]The first embodiment of the e-commerce system in accordance with the
present invention comprises an affiliated store system (30) that sells
products and services (hereinafter, commonly called `products`), a first
client (10) that inquires about product information from the affiliated
store system, a second client (20) that selects and orders a product to
be purchased from the product information that the first client inquires
about and that pays the product, an electronic settlement system (40)
that conducts settlement processing of settlement accounts of the ordered
product by interworking with the second client, and a financial
institution system (50) that provides a settlement unit to the second
client. In the first embodiment of the e-commerce system in accordance
with the present invention, the first client (10) accesses the affiliated
store system (30) to inquire about the product information, and the
second client (20) selects the product to be purchased from the product
information that the first client inquires about and orders the selected
product as paying the ordered product. Accordingly, product information
inquiry, order, and settlement processes among e-commerce processes are
discontinuously handled, thereby individually handling product
information inquiry and order/settlement by different subjects. It is
also possible that the product information inquiry and the
order/settlement can be separately carried out by the same subject.

[0028]The first client (10) is supplied with the product information from
the online/offline affiliated store system (30), and inquires about the
information. The product information includes a serial code (product
code) provided/sold by the affiliated store system (30), names, a selling
price, and detailed information. The detailed information contains
detailed explanations like images of each product, features, and usage.
The product information inquired about and selected by the first client
(10) is transmitted to the second client (20), and at this time, the
transmission of the product information is carried out by the first
client or the affiliated store system (30). Besides, the first client
(10) provides first access information for accessing the second client
(20) that will order and pay a product, to the affiliated store system
(30). The first access information is an intrinsic value assigned to the
second client in order to access the second client, including a portable
phone number of the second client, an apparatus number, a chip serial
number, an ID (login ID of the affiliated store system) assigned to the
second client from the affiliated store system, an e-mail address of the
second client, and a messenger ID. In case the affiliated store system
(30) is an online affiliated store system such as an Internet shopping
mall, a session initiated by accessing of the first client is terminated
when the first client terminates accessing to the affiliated store system
after inquiring about the product information and inputting the first
access information.

[0029]The second client (20) receives the product information inquired
about by the first client (10), selects a product to be purchased through
the received product information, and orders the product by accessing the
affiliated store system (30). Likewise, the second client (20) settles
accounts of the product by using a settlement unit provided by the
financial institution system (50). The settlement unit can be used in
various types such as credit card, transferring, electronic cash, prepaid
card, e-mail based payment (ex, PayPal), cellular phone number based
payment, and micro portable phone payment types. Order and settlement
processes of the second client (20) are executed by being temporally and
spatially separated from a product information inquiry process of the
first client (10). That is to say, in case the affiliated store system is
an online affiliated store system such as an Internet shopping mall, a
new session is initiated when the second client accesses, then the order
and settlement processes are progressed. The first client (10) and the
second client (20) are discriminated in FIG. 1 for just conceptual
discrimination so as to clearly describe the present invention, thus it
is also possible that the first client and the second client may be the
same client on a substantial embodiment. Namely, it is available that one
customer client accesses the affiliated store system (30) to inquire
about product information and terminates the accessing to the affiliated
store system, and that the client accesses the affiliated store system
again to order and pay a product to be purchased. In this case, product
information inquiry and order/settlement processes are performed in
different sessions, and are carried out while being temporally or
spatially separated from each other by the same subject.

[0030]The affiliated store system (30) sells products to the first client
(10) and the second client (20), and embraces all of online/offline
affiliated store systems. The affiliated store system (30) consists of a
shopping mall server (31) which conducts various processes for selling
products, and a shopping mall database (32) which stores data required
for selling the products.

[0031]The shopping mall server (31) loads product information from the
shopping mall database (32) to provide the loaded information to the
first client (10), and receives first access information of the second
client from the first client to transmit product information inquired
about and selected by the first client to the second client. The product
information includes serial codes (product codes) of each product sold by
the affiliated store system (30), names, a selling price, and detailed
information. Also, when the second client (20) accesses to select and
order a product, the shopping mall server (31) generates order
information of the ordered product to transmit the generated information
to an electronic settlement system (40), then demands settlement
processing. The order information contains an order number, ID
information of the affiliated store system, the first access information
of the second client, a product code, and settlement accounts. The order
number is an intrinsic value generated by the shopping mall server (31)
during product ordering of the second client (20), being used for
identifying the corresponding order and the order information. The
settlement accounts are money that the second client has to pay, and are
calculated by adding sale proceeds of the ordered product.

[0032]The shopping mall database (32) comprises a product information
table for storing data required for product information, and an order
information table for storing data required for order information. The
product information table individually stores product codes of each
product, names, a selling price, and detailed information, while an order
number, first access information of the second client, a product code of
an ordered product, settlement accounts, and a valid flag are stored in
the order information table. The valid flag is a value indicating whether
the order information is valid, showing whether an order can be validly
processed, for instance, whether the corresponding order information is
maintained without being cancelled by the second client or whether the
stock of an ordered product exists or is obtainable.

[0033]The electronic settlement system (40) receives the order information
from the affiliated store system (30), and processes settlement of
product accounts by interworking with the second customer client (20).
The electronic settlement system (40) comprises a receiver (41) for
receiving the order information from the affiliated store system (30), a
first transmitter (42) for transmitting settlement request information to
the second client (20), a settlement processor (43) for processing the
settlement of the product accounts by interworking with the second
client, a second transmitter (44) for transmitting settlement processing
results to the second client and the affiliated store system, and a
settlement database (45) for storing data required for the settlement
processing results and the settlement request information.

[0034]The receiver (41) receives order information of a product ordered by
the second client (20) from the affiliated store system (30). Like shown
above, the order information contains an order number, ID information of
the affiliated store system, first access information of the second
client, a product code, and settlement accounts. The received order
information is stored in the settlement database (45).

[0035]The first transmitter (42) transmits the settlement request
information that requests settlement to the second client (20). The
settlement request information is transmitted by using the first access
information of the second client, and includes an ID number of the
settlement request information, ID information of the affiliated store
system, settlement accounts that the second client has to pay, and second
access information for accessing the electronic settlement system. Values
included in the order information are used for the settlement accounts
and the ID information of the affiliated store system. The second access
information is information for enabling the second client (20) to access
the electronic settlement system (40), containing an IP address and a URL
of the electronic settlement system. It is desirable that the second
access information is provided in a type linked with the electronic
settlement system. The settlement request information can further
comprise product details which are lists of products ordered by the
second client.

[0036]The settlement processor (43) conducts settlement processing for the
settlement accounts by interworking with the second client (20). When the
second client (20) accesses the electronic settlement system (40) through
the second access information of the settlement request information, the
settlement processor (43) receives selection for a settlement unit for
processing the settlement accounts by interworking with the second
client, and authenticates the second client through a used method among
various authentication methods. The settlement unit embraces credit card,
transferring, electronic cash, prepaid card, e-mail based payment (ex,
PayPal), and micro portable phone payment types. Furthermore, the
settlement processor (43) demands settlement to the financial institution
system (50) which provides the selected settlement unit, and completes
the settlement by receiving approval from the financial institution
system. The settlement processor (43) stores results of the approval of
the financial institution system (50) in the settlement database (45).

[0037]Meanwhile, it is desirable that the settlement processor (43)
confirms whether order information on the corresponding settlement is
valid before the second client (20) accesses to conduct the settlement.
Validity confirmation of the order information is executed when the
settlement processor (43) transmits validity confirm request data which
contains an order number to the affiliated store system (30) and receives
validity confirm results from the affiliated store system. Order
information validity confirmation of the affiliated store system (30) is
conducted by confirming a valid flag of the order information table of
the shopping mall database (32). At this moment, if the order information
is not valid, the settlement processor (43) terminates the settlement
processing after transmitting a message indicative of invalidity of the
order information to the second client. In the meantime, when the
settlement processor (43) interworks by installing a separate module in
the affiliated store system (30) such as an electronic wallet, the
settlement processor can confirm validity of the order information by
directly accessing the order information table of the shopping mall
database of the affiliated store system to load a valid flag.

[0038]The second transmitter (44) transmits the settlement processing
results to the second client (20) and the affiliated store system (30).
The settlement processing results contain an ID number of the settlement
processing results, settlement accounts, and approval results. The
settlement processing results transmitted to the second client (20)
include ID information of the affiliated store system, while the
settlement processing results transmitted to the affiliated store system
(30) include an order number.

[0039]The settlement database (45) is composed of an order information
table for storing order information, a settlement request information
table for storing data essential for generation and transmission of the
settlement request information, and a settlement processing result table
for storing data necessary for generation and transmission of the
settlement processing results. The order information table stores the
order information received from the affiliated store system (30), and
specifically, it stores an order number, ID information of the affiliated
store system, first access information, a product code, and settlement
accounts. The settlement request information table stores the data
required for generation and transmission of the settlement request
information, and specifically, it stores a settlement request information
ID number, an order number, and second access information. The settlement
request information table loads the affiliated store system ID
information and the settlement accounts from the order information table
to include the loaded information in the settlement request information,
in reference to the order information table by setting the order number
to a reference key, and loads the first access information so that the
settlement request information is transmitted to the second client.
Moreover, in case the settlement request information is included in
product details, the product code can be loaded from the order
information table and be included in the settlement request information.
The settlement processing result table stores the data required for
generation and transmission of the settlement processing results, and
specifically, it stores a settlement processing result ID number, an
order number, and approval results of the financial institution system
(50). The settlement processing result table can also load the affiliated
store system ID information, the first access information, and the
settlement accounts, in reference to the order information table by
setting the order number to a reference key.

[0040]The financial institution system (50) provides a settlement unit to
the second client (20), and conducts settlement processing of the
settlement accounts according to a settlement request of the settlement
processor (43) of the electronic settlement system (40). A credit card
company, a bank, a mobile communication company, and an electronic cash
provider can be included in the financial institution system (50).

[0041]FIG. 4 is a format diagram of a second embodiment of an e-commerce
system applied with an electronic settlement system in accordance with
the present invention. Like shown in FIG. 4, the second embodiment of the
e-commerce system in accordance with the present invention is an
embodiment where product information inquiry, order, and settlement
processes are discontinuously carried out by different clients, and
wherein a first client group (15) accesses an affiliated store system
(30) to inquire about product information and selects and orders a
product to be purchased, while a second client (20) conducts processing
only of settlement accounts for the ordered product. That is, the second
client (20) immediately receives settlement request information from an
electronic settlement system (40), and processes settlement only of the
product ordered by the first client group. At this point, first access
information of the second client is inputted from the first client group.
Therefore, product information inquiry/order and settlement processes
among e-commerce processes are executed by being temporally and spatially
separated by different subjects. The first client group (15) and the
second client (20) are discriminated in FIG. 4 for just conceptual
discrimination so as to clearly describe the present invention, thus it
is also possible that the first client group and the second client may be
the same client on a substantial embodiment. Namely, it is available that
one customer client accesses the affiliated store system (30) to inquire
about and order product information and terminates the accessing to the
affiliated store system, and that the client processes settlement
accounts of an ordered product by using settlement request information
transmitted from the electronic settlement system (40). In this case,
product information inquiry/order and settlement processes are performed
by being temporally and spatially separated by the same subject. Since
another configuration of the second embodiment of the e-commerce system
is the same as shown above, detailed explanations will be omitted.

[0042]FIG. 5 is a format diagram of a third embodiment of an e-commerce
system applied with an electronic settlement system in accordance with
the present invention. Like shown in FIG. 5, the third embodiment of the
e-commerce system in accordance with the present invention is an
embodiment where all of product information inquiry, order, and
settlement processes are individually executed by different clients, and
wherein a first client group (15) includes a third client (16) and a
fourth client (17), and the third client accesses an affiliated store
system (30) to inquire about product information while the fourth client
selects a product to be purchased from the product information inquired
about by the third client, and orders the selected product. The product
information inquiry process of the third client and the order process of
the fourth client are carried out in separate sessions. A second client
(20) receives settlement request information from an electronic
settlement system (40), and processes settlement of the product ordered
by the fourth client (17). At this time, first access information of the
second client is inputted from the fourth client. So, all of product
information inquiry, order, and settlement processes among e-commerce
processes are conducted in different sessions by separate subjects. On
the other hand, the third client (16), the fourth client (17), and the
second client (20) are discriminated in FIG. 5 for just conceptual
discrimination so as to clearly describe the present invention, thus it
is also possible that the third client, the fourth client, and the second
client can be the same client on a substantial embodiment. In other
words, it is available that one customer client accesses the affiliated
store system (30) to inquire about product information and terminates the
accessing to the affiliated store system, and the client accesses the
affiliated store system again to select and order a product to be
purchased from the inquired product information and terminates the
accessing again, and that the client processes settlement accounts of the
ordered product by using settlement request information transmitted from
the electronic settlement system (40) later on. In this case, product
information inquiry, order and settlement processes are performed in
different sessions, and are carried out by being spatio-temporally
separated from each other by the same subject. Since another
configuration of the third embodiment of the e-commerce system is the
same as shown above, detailed explanations will be omitted.

[0043]FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a first embodiment of an e-commerce
process applied with an electronic settlement method in accordance with
the present invention. By referring to FIG. 6, the first embodiment of
the e-commerce process applied with the electronic settlement method in
accordance with the present invention will be described as follows.

[0044]The first client (10) accesses the affiliated store system (30) to
inquire about product information provided by the shopping mall server
(31) (ST600). The product information contains product codes of each
product, names, a selling price, and detailed information, and is
provided by being loaded from the product information table of the
shopping mall database (32). Also, the first client (10) inputs the first
access information of the second client (20) to the shopping mall server
(31), and the shopping mall server transmits the product information
inquired about by the first client to the second client by using the
first access information (ST605, ST610). The first access information
contains a portable phone number, an apparatus number, a chip serial
number, an ID (login ID of the affiliated store system) of the affiliated
system, an e-mail address, and a messenger ID. The steps `ST600` and
`ST605` are performed in one session initiated when the first client (10)
accesses the affiliated store system (30), and the corresponding session
is also terminated if the first client terminates the accessing to the
affiliated store system.

[0045]The second client (20) accesses the affiliated store system (30),
and selects a product to be purchased from the product information
inquired about by the first client (10) to order the selected product
(ST615). The step `ST615` is also conducted in a new session initiated
when the second client (20) accesses the affiliated store system (30),
and at this moment, it is needless to say that the new session is
different from the session where the steps `ST600` and `ST605` are
carried out.

[0046]The shopping mall server (31) transmits order information to the
electronic settlement system (40), and the receiver (41) receives the
order information to store the received information in the order
information table of the settlement database (45)(ST620). The order
information includes an order number, ID information of the affiliated
store system, first access information of the second client, a product
code, and settlement accounts. The order number is an intrinsic serial
code generated by the shopping mall server (31) when the second client
(20) orders a product, and the affiliated store system and the electronic
settlement system can distinguish each order and order information.

[0047]The first transmitter (42) includes details to be settled, and
transmits settlement request information which demands settlement to the
second client (20) (ST625). The settlement request information is
transmitted to the second client by using the first access information
included in the order information, and contains ID information of the
affiliated store system, settlement accounts that the second client has
to pay, and the second access information. It is also possible to further
comprise details of the product ordered by the second client in the
settlement request information. It is desirable that the second access
information is provided in a type linked by access information such as a
URL or an IP address for enabling the second client (20) to access the
electronic settlement system (40).

[0048]When the second client (20) accesses the electronic settlement
system (40) by using the second access information to demand settlement
processing, the settlement processor (43) confirms validity of order
information on settlement prior to the settlement (ST630). Validity
confirmation of the order information is to confirm whether an order
through which the settlement is to be conducted is a currently valid
order, confirming whether the corresponding order can be validly
processed, for instance, whether the corresponding order information is
maintained without being cancelled or whether the stock of the ordered
product exists or is obtainable. In order to confirm the validity of the
order information, the settlement processor (43) transmits validity
confirm request data which includes an order number to the affiliated
store system (30), and the shopping mall server (31) loads the order
information from the shopping mall database (32) by using the order
number, then confirms a valid flag value of the loaded order information
to send the results. In case a separate module of the electronic
settlement system (40) such as an electronic wallet is installed in and
interworked with the affiliated store system (30), the settlement
processor (43) can directly access the shopping mall database (32) by
using the order number, and can load and confirm a valid flag of the
corresponding order information.

[0049]As validity confirm results, if the order information is not
currently valid, the settlement processor (43) transmits a message
indicating that the order information is invalid to the second client
(20), and terminates the settlement processing (ST635, ST640).

[0050]As the validity confirm results, if the order information is valid,
the settlement processor (43) receives selection for the settlement unit
for settlement processing from the second client (20), authenticates the
second client, and demands settlement to the financial institution system
(50) which provides the selected settlement unit (ST635, ST645). Various
settlement units such as credit card, transferring, electronic cash,
prepaid card, e-mail based payment (ex, PayPal), portable phone number
based payment, and micro portable phone payment types can be used as the
settlement unit without any restrictions.

[0051]If the settlement request is approved from the financial institution
system (50), the settlement processor (43) approves the settlement of the
corresponding order information (ST650, ST655). On the contrary, if the
settlement request is rejected from the financial institution system
(50), the settlement processor (43) rejects the settlement of the
corresponding order information (ST650, ST660). The second transmitter
(44) transmits settlement processing results to the second client (20)
and the affiliated store system (30) (ST665). The settlement processing
results include the settlement accounts and approval results, then ID
information of the affiliated store system is included in the settlement
processing results transmitted to the second client (20) while the
settlement processing results transmitted to the affiliated store system
(30) contain the order number.

[0052]FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a second embodiment of an e-commerce
process applied with an electronic settlement method in accordance with
the present invention. By referring to FIG. 7, the second embodiment of
the e-commerce process applied with the electronic settlement method in
accordance with the present invention will be described as follows.

[0053]The first client group (15) accesses the affiliated store system
(30), and inquires about product information provided by the shopping
mall server (31) (ST700). And, the first client group (15) selects and
orders a product to be purchased from the inquired product information,
and inputs first access information of the second client (20) (ST705,
ST710). The steps `ST700` to `ST710` are performed in one session
initiated when the first client group (15) accesses the affiliated store
system (30), and the session is also terminated if the first client
terminates the accessing to the affiliated store system.

[0054]The receiver (41) receives order information from the shopping mall
server (31), and stores the received information in the order information
table of the settlement database (45), then the first transmitter (42)
transmits settlement request information to the second client (20)
(ST715, ST720).

[0055]When the second client (20) accesses the electronic settlement
system (40) by using second access information, the settlement processor
(43) confirms validity of order information to be settled (ST725).
Validity confirmation of the order information is conducted by confirming
a valid flag value of the order information table of the shopping mall
database (32), and is carried out by transmitting validity confirm
request data to the shopping mall server (31) and receiving validity
confirm results or when the settlement processor (43) confirms the value
by accessing the shopping mall database (32).

[0056]As validity confirm results, if the order information is not
currently valid, the settlement processor (43) transmits a message to the
second client (20), and terminates settlement processing (ST730, ST735).

[0057]As the validity confirm results, if the order information is valid,
the settlement processor (43) receives selection for the settlement unit
from the second client (20), and demands settlement to the financial
institution system (50) (ST730, ST740). If the settlement request is
approved from the financial institution system (50), the settlement
processor (43) approves the settlement of the corresponding order
information, and if the settlement request is rejected, the settlement of
the corresponding order information is rejected (ST745 to ST755). The
second transmitter (44) transmits settlement processing results to the
second client (20) and the affiliated store system (30) (ST760).

[0058]FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a third embodiment of an e-commerce
process applied with an electronic settlement method in accordance with
the present invention. By referring to FIG. 8, the third embodiment of
the e-commerce process applied with the electronic settlement method in
accordance with the present invention will be described as follows.

[0059]The third client (16) accesses the affiliated store system (30), and
inquires about product information provided by the shopping mall server
(31) (ST800). The product information inquired about by the third client
(16) is transmitted to the fourth client (17), and the fourth client
accesses the affiliated store system (30), and selects a product to be
purchased from the product information to order the selected product
(ST805, ST810). Likewise, the fourth client (17) inputs first access
information of the second client (20) to the affiliated store system (30)
(ST815). The step `ST800` is performed in a session maintained while the
third client (16) accesses the affiliated store system (30), and the step
`ST810` is carried out in a new session maintained while the third client
(16) accesses the affiliated store system (30). In other words, the steps
`ST800` and `ST810` are executed in different sessions.

[0060]The shopping mall server (31) transmits order information to the
electronic settlement system (40), and the receiver (41) receives the
order information to store the received information in the order
information table of the settlement database (45) (ST820). The first
transmitter (42) transmits settlement request information to the second
client (20) by using first access information included in the order
information (ST825).

[0061]When the second client (20) accesses the electronic settlement
system (40) by using second access information included in the settlement
request information, the settlement processor (43) confirms validity of
the order information on settlement prior the settlement (ST830). As
validity confirm results, if the order information is not currently
valid, the settlement processor (43) transmits a message indicating that
the order information is invalid to the second client (20), and
terminates settlement processing (ST835, ST840).

[0062]As the validity confirm results, if the order information is valid,
the settlement processor (43) receives selection for the settlement unit
from the second client (20), authenticates the second client, and demands
settlement to the financial institution system (50) (ST835, ST845).

[0063]If the financial institution system (50) approves the settlement
request, the settlement processor (43) approves the settlement of the
corresponding order information, and if the settlement request is
rejected, the settlement processor rejects the settlement of the
corresponding order information, then the second transmitter (44)
transmits settlement processing results to the second client (20) and the
affiliated store system (30) (ST850 to ST865).

EFFECT OF THE INVENTION

[0064]Like stated so far, an electronic settlement system and a method
thereof in accordance with the present invention dualize order and
settlement processes by discontinuously conducting the at least order and
settlement processes in different sessions among e-commerce processes
consisting of product information inquiry, order, and settlement
processes, so that the product information inquiry, order, and settlement
processes can be separately carried out by different clients, and wherein
the same client also does not have to continuously execute the product
information inquiry, order, and settlement processes, thereby temporally
and spatially separating each process when necessary to freely handle the
respective processes.

[0065]In accordance with the provisions of the patent statues, the present
invention has been described in what is considered to represent its
preferred embodiment. However, it should be noted that the invention can
be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described
without departing from its spirit or scope.

[0066]In this patent document, the word "comprising" is used in its
non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included,
but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an
element by the indefinite article "a" does not exclude the possibility
that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly
requires that there be one and only one of the elements.

[0067]It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that modifications may
be made to the illustrated embodiment without departing from the Claims.